US Track Star Noah Lyles Subtly Takes Another Dig at NBA World: “Beyond Basketball They’re Usually…”

The US track and field sensation, Noah Lyles, is on route to Paris, aiming to secure “all the Olympics medals.” While the sprinting star has a solid fanbase, with sights to overtake Usain Bolt’s records, he has, however, faced the ire of the NBA community for his controversial statement. Criticizing NBA stars for tagging themselves “world champions”, he sparked a fiery debate on what are the qualification parameters for this title. NBA players Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard, defended their right to call themselves world champions, by posting his statement.

Now, once again, track and field star Lyles has reignited the discussion with another remark, targeting the NBA world. Challenging the versatility of basketball, for representing the U.S. all-around at the Olympics, the reverberations of his controversial remark are yet to be seen.

Noah Lyles disregards basketball for Olympic representation

In his most recent discussion featured on his YouTube channel, Noah Lyles invited 2-times world champion Chase Ealey. The episode is titled, “Shotput as a Weapon and Natural Strength v.s. Juicing.” Ealey poses a question in the latter half of the conversation to Lyles, “If you could pick one person to represent our country in every Olympic sport who would it be?”

To this, the six-time world outdoor champion, Lyles had a questionable point of view. He begins by elaborating what he seeks from the athletic group, adding, “I want to choose somebody who’s pretty much all-around athletic, I’m assuming.” He remarks, “I’m not going to go for a basketball player because beyond basketball they’re usually…”

Noah Lyles drifts off from here as Ealy intervenes with a dash of laughter saying, “Would you stop it!” Lyles then continues with his preference for football. He continues, “Football players, wide receivers are actually pretty versatile,” adding to the argument. Notably, this fresh comment has every possibility to shake up a controversy that created quite an uproar a few months back. While the NBA ripped him apart, Noah found support from another popular track star in the country.

Noah Lyles got a backing amid NBA controversy

Lyles received intense backlash after he disregarded NBA teams for declaring themselves “world champions” without facing global competition. He questioned the authenticity of the title, adding that NBA players compete against US-based teams. “World champion of what? The United States?” he continued. NBA stars like Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, however, took to defend their league. Interestingly, Sha’Carri Richardson stood by Noah on that occasion.

Read more: “Sad to Lose…”: Noah Lyles Pays Emotional Tribute to ‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama

“I’m standing with Noah on this one…The organization [NBA] have players from different countries but do they compete against different countries. You have to go against the world in order to be a world champion,” Sha’Carri had said categorically. It remains to be seen where things head this time with Noah’s fresh remark.

Also read: Noah Lyles’ Aim for Winning Paris Olympics Gold Extends to More Than Just Country Glory